Foods You Didn't Know Were American

Read on to learn which of your favorite foods were created in the USA.

2/11

Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's hard to believe that the chocolate chip cookie celebrated its 75th birthday in 2013. If you're a fan of this classic sweet, you have Ruth Wakefield to thank. From 1930 to 1967, Wakefield ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts with her husband. The chocolate chip cookie was actually invented to accompany ice cream, but became so popular that Marjorie Husted (also known as Betty Crocker) featured the cookie on her radio program. Wakefield eventually gave Nestle the right to use her chocolate chip cookie recipe with the Toll House name.

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3/11

Potato Chips

Potato chips have been around since 1853! They were invented in Saratoga Springs, New York because Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his French fries were too think. To satisfy Vanderbilt, Chef George Crum fried thin potatoes until they were crunchy. The savory delights were called "Saratoga Chips." By 1938, Herman Lay had created the first national brand of potato chips.

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4/11

Buffalo Wings

To answer the common statement, "But buffalos don't have wings" one need only look to Buffalo, New York, where Frank Bellissimo, founder of Anchor Bar, invented the traditional Super Bowl snack. The wings were so popular that on July 29th, 1977, the City of Buffalo declared a Chicken Wing Day.

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5/11

Banana Split

Did you know the banana split has been around for over a century? David Strickler invented the banana split in 1904 when he was working at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

The California roll was invented in, guess where? California! Legend has it that there was no bluefin tuna available at the time, so a chef decided to try avocado, which is not a traditional Japanese ingredient. Another story says that the chef invented the roll for American customers.

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8/11

Meatloaf

The ancient Romans enjoyed a meatloaf-like dish, but meatloaf as we know it today could not have existed without the invention of the mechanical meat grinder, thanks to the Industrial Revolution. The dish became popular during the Great Depression and other difficult economic times.

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9/11

Cornbread

The Native Americans had a tradition of drying and grinding corn into cornmeal. Then they added eggs and voila, cornbread!

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10/11

Fortune Cookies

Even though they often accompany Chinese takeout, fortune cookies are not actually a Chinese dessert. While origins of the fortune cookie aren't known, they first appeared in San Francisco in the early 1900s.